The novel is based on Laura's late childhood spent near
De Smet, South Dakota, beginning in 1879. Because her sister, Mary, was recently blinded due to scarlet fever, Pa asks Laura to "be Mary’s eyes" by describing what she sees, and she becomes more patient and mature through this service. The novel also introduces Laura's youngest sister,
Grace. The story begins in Plum Creek, shortly after the Ingalls have recovered from the scarlet fever which caused Mary to become blind. Aunt Docia comes to visit, and suggests that Pa work as the bookkeeper in Uncle Henry's railroad camp for fifty dollars a month. Since Mary is too weak to travel, Pa went ahead with the wagon and team, and the rest of the family followed later by train. The morning Pa is to leave, their beloved old bulldog, Jack, dies in his sleep, saddening Laura greatly. (The
dog upon whom he was based was no longer with the Ingalls at that point, but Laura inserted his death here to serve as a transition between her childhood and her
adolescence.) Several months later, Ma and the children travel to Dakota Territory by train. This is their first train trip and they are excited by this mode of transportation, which can cover in a few hours the distance a horse and wagon would travel in a day. Pa comes for them in town, and the next day they leave for the railroad camp. Laura and her cousin, Lena, play together when they are done with their chores, which range from collecting laundry washed by a neighbor to milking cows; Laura rides a horse for the first time when Lena allows her the use of her pony. As winter approaches, the railroad workers demolish the buildings in the camp and return east. As the Ingalls have nowhere to stay post-demolition, they plan to return east too, but the surveyors, who had planned to stay for the winter, are called back east and ask them to stay in their house in exchange for keeping watch over their surveying equipment. Laura is excited to move into a beautiful house well stocked with provisions. The newly married Mr. and Mrs. Boast arrive in the middle of a snowstorm. They stay past Christmas, and at New Year's the Ingalls visit the Boasts' small home for dinner. To pass time, Mrs. Boast shares her collection of newspapers with Laura and shows the Ingalls how to make a
what-not. Later,
Reverend Alden unexpectedly visits, and after learning Mary is blind, informs Ma that there is a college for the blind in Iowa. Laura resolves that she will eventually teach school and help send Mary to college. During a clear night that winter, Laura and Carrie go for a moonlight walk on the lake and encounter a wolf. When Pa goes out the next day to hunt it, he discovers the perfect section of land for their homestead claim. He plans to file on it at the land office in Brookings as soon as the weather improves. However, his departure is delayed by a rush of men moving west who must also stay in the surveyors' building. The money earned from boarding them is later used for Mary's college education. After Pa's return from Brookings, he builds a store building in town so his family can move when the surveyors return. The novel ends as the Ingalls settle into the snug claim shanty on their new land. ==Historical background==